survival-food-supplies-preps

Food, Supplies, and Preps

survival-food-supplies-preps

Polling on Modern-Survival-Blog.com reveals that when it comes to survival preparedness, not only are most folks mostly concerned about the economy, but because of that concern… they are mostly buying food and supplies, followed by being frugal, reducing debt, and saving cash. These are all strong indicators that consumers remain unsure of their future and have low confidence in an economic recovery any time soon.

 

Food. You are stocking up on food. What kinds of food? In what form? Where do you keep it?

A word of caution… ‘heat’. Don’t keep your extra food storage where it can get hot. Bad ideas include your attic, or an outdoor shed (unless it’s insulated from extremes). Good ideas include areas within your normal living environment where temperature and humidity are somewhat normal. The basement can be OK, provided that it is dry (basements can sometimes be damp and a bit humid – so, use a dehumidifier).

For what you consider to be the majority of your food storage, I wonder if it mostly consists of things like sacks (or buckets) of beans and rice? Or is it mostly an assortment of lots of #10 cans of dried foods? Or is it mostly canned foods that you simply get from the grocery store? I also wonder how many of you have much of a variety of foods or how many of you rotate your extra foods and actually consume them?

Most preppers have heard this a million times, but, I’ll say it again… ‘Store what you eat, and eat what you store’. This is really the only way to avoid spoilage or waste over the longer run. Also, seriously, don’t forget to think of variety. Assuming you eat somewhat of a normal diet, be sure to get a little of everything – including your sweets and deserts!

 

Supplies. You are concerned enough about the uncertain future to be buying more supplies and stashing them on shelves, in closets, or your basement. What exactly are you buying in the way of supplies?

This is a pretty general category. My first thought are things like paper supplies – toilet paper! This is probably one thing you don’t want to be without during a disaster! I know that we at the MSB homestead have plenty of mega-packs of TP stashed away in the attic… buy them on sale!

Think of your supplies in terms of categories. Like, your kitchen – a few manual can openers, a means of cooking without electricity, gravity-fed water filter, etc… Or, your maintenance – things like hand tools, hardware, spare parts. I have an outdoor shed filled with all sorts of these types of supplies and have relied on them while keeping our home in shape over the years. It’s great not to have to run out to the hardware store every time you need something… and hardware stores may not be ‘open’ during times of disaster.

 

Preps. Besides food and supplies, what else are you buying or doing to provide more survival insurance for the uncertain future?

This is kind of a catch-all for everything else. Think beyond just the physical aspect of surviving or having the conveniences of life during a disaster. Think about your security – both at home and while on-the-road. Think about your transportation, back-up plans, and having a plan! Think about ‘what-if’ scenarios for a longer term disaster.

Although less likely, what-if we had to suffer through a mega-disaster – one that lasted for months or even years? This brings to mind many more precautions and prep items to truly shore up your survival preparedness. A long term disaster crosses a threshold where only those that have spent much time and efforts will have a better chance of making it through less scathed, or making it through at all.

 

Please comment with your own thoughts about categories or subcategories of Food, Supplies, and Preps for survival preparedness!

 

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19 Comments

  1. We have limited space, and a diet consisting mainly of fresh food so there is little chance for stock rotation, so we store dried pasta and rice (several 1kg packs) along with maybe 100-150 various tins.

    Other important items for us include:
    – A good supply of basic medicines and cleaning products
    – Toilet paper, as you say
    – A couple of gas cylinders (for the BBQ, to heat food on)
    – Bottled water (I drink quite a lot of this anyway)
    – Spare blankets, duvets etc to keep warm

    Our supplies wouldn’t last more than a month or two in a crisis. But in a crowded urban environment in the UK with no option to “bug-out,” neither, probably, would we! ;)

    1. Kathy,
      Add a bat, pepper spray, stun guns, and any other (legal weapons you can manage safely. Image something like Occupy Wallstreet protests on your nearby street for weeks and months on end. What would you do? Seriously, plan on hunkering down if you have to. Don’t be suprized when the utilities go down – when law enforcement shuts the grid down in order to move the masses on.

      Do you grow your own fresh foods? If not, do please figure out other options. When your family gets too hungry you will be thankful. Have enough water to filler for drinking also.

      I know that I need to address my weak doors and exposed large windows. I have a house full of food that is could become very vulnerable. Think barter also (cigs and booze, rice).

  2. I’m going back to the basics of more food and even simple ideas such as extra trash cans to catch and store water. Besides that everything else is icing on the cake.

  3. sooner or later the most comprehensive food storage is going to run out in a SHTF situation. With that in mind I am learning a lot about growing my own food and food foraging. Food foraging maybe the only way of feeding your self in a worst case scenario. If people dont recognise it as food they will leave it alone and you can then gather it. Also skills are very important so that you always have something to trade even if you don’t have anything else.
    My faith in a loving God is the most important asset I have. Coupled with a belief that when people are desperate you cant blame them for wanting what you have. So as much as possible look like you dont have anything. To escape notice is the most effective means of defense.

  4. Does the tp in the attic cause it to become dry or brittle? I live in a dry climate and wonder what the intense heat of the attic will do to paper products. Do you have suggestions for how to store?

    1. We’ve had no problems with the TP in the attic, or with our other paper products. We currently live in a pretty dry summer climate so we have no real humidity to worry about, for the most part. We also rotate our stock. I suspect that high humidity combined with heat could cause potential harm. Consider keeping it in plastic storage bins, which should drastically help that particular problem (humidity). We use plastic storage bins quite allot around here for many different things.

      1. I keep my paper products in our broken down vehicles in the shed. These cars are mostly mouse proof, but not completely. I keep rat poison with all paper products and anything metalic like.

        We have an old house. It is 2 bedrooms with a partial attic access room for storage mostly. Our out buildings store most of the non-food items, and soaps. Not the perfect plan for soaps, but that is what I do at the moment.

        I crush my TP rool when I can to conserve room. Paper plates and cups are a big part of our paper storage also.

        When I go to the store, I look at where stuff is made. It an item is most often made overseas (China, India, etc); then I try to store extras. This is especially the case with spices that are important to me, as well as teas.

  5. Well we bugged out a long time ago. Hate cities and can’t stand throngs of people, so living in a very rural environment is not much of a hardship for us.

    We have a couple year supply of commercial goods that we rotate, but we also hunt, fish, trap, have a big garden and can what we grow. We also raise livestock, including beef, a few hogs, sheep and chickens……….. and we have a few horses.

    Neighbours are few and far between and self sufficient. We all trade back and forth as needed and help each other as required but everyone keeps their space as we all like our privacy.

    If something does occur, it will not be a big problem for us. We also live far enough away from urban centers that few will ever make it out here, especially in the winter.

    We have an older diesel tractor with a loader and keep a good supply of fuel on hand so we would be good for a long time using some restraint and the horses whenever possible.

    Our ranch has several small lakes and ponds and we have two wells. We heat with wood and cut all our firewood at home, with an unending supply available.

    It took planning, but we eventually found just the right spot. We had to give up careers and steady paychecks to do it, but we sure as hell do not regret it.

    1. That sounds great! Without revealing your location, I’m curious what State you chose (if you’re in the US)?

      1. We are north of the 49th Ken.

        The area we chose is not in the mountains, but we are at about 2400 feet. The environment is a transition zone between the prairies and the northern boreal forest, and is referred to as the Parkland. There are lots of lakes in this area but we are high enough there are no problems with flooding. Not in an earthquake zone. Long ways from volcanoes and nuke plants. :)

  6. For about $1,000 I have 180w of solar panels and 2 – 1,000w inverters. The inverters can be easily wired into my home breaker panel, a couple of car batteries wired to the inverters and solar panels to my car batteries. I can’t run heavy loads like the fridge, stove and ac/heat but I have lights, stero, computer usage, ceiling fans, charge all my re-chargables for power tools, flash lights and radios. I also have some smaller panels for barter purpose. These panels are currently in faraday cages to prevent damage should an emp style event, man-made or natural, occur. Otherwise you may as well kiss those babies good-bye.

  7. Long term storage of rice, beans, pasta, crackers, granola bars and so forth, try to store them in glass containers, otherwise you’ll be sharing your largeese with the mice.

    1. Our main pantry is in the house of course and we do not have any rodent problems in the house, but we still use the big plastic containers as well for a lot of non-canned items. We use the rubber maid tubs with snap on lids a lot in the out buildings and have never had rodent problems. We also use a lot of the big 55 gallon plastic drums with lids and snap rings, they work great for storing a lot of stuff in and they keep out any vermin, as do metal barrels with snap rings. The barrels, both metal and plastic, are also pretty good at keeping bears out as well, especially if you secure the snap ring fastener with a bolt.

      Persistent bears end up turning into lard, sausage and bear hams. :)

  8. On the subject of TP, there’s one thing I haven’t seen mentioned. That’s Baby Wipes, or whatever you should call them…..

    They take up allot less space than TP! I buy the big boxes of individual resealable packages of 100. One package only takes up the space of two rolls of tp, but IMO takes the place of 10-15 rolls..
    Fluffy TP vs flat stiff TP, yeah, they just want you to buy their TP, I just happen to think baby Wipes leave you feeling a bit Cleaner as well………
    There’s also the countless other uses for them, you can wipe more than your butt with them you know ;)
    From experience: rodents tend to like stored tp for nest, rather than packages of wet wipes…

    Also another is disposable razors…… If you want to play with the swords they used back in the day, be my guest, Id probably end up headless….
    Ive been through a few hurricanes, and electric razors just don’t cut it!

    Its important to feel clean, especially when things are going to hell..
    Again, from experience, being able to shave and “wash up”, if even in pirate fashion, can just make wonders!!

    1. Disposable razors. :)

      I quit shaving a long time ago. My wife trims my beard when she gives me a hair cut. Warmer in winter and keeps the mosquitoes off part of your face in the summer. LOL

      Good info though, for those who simply must have a smooth face. The baby wipes are very handy indeed. Quick clean up. I carry some when I am hunting as you can quickly clean your hands and arms after gutting a moose or an elk…………… and your right, in a pinch you can have a good ‘spit bath’ with them, which does make you feel better when you are ruffing it.

  9. Does the TP in the attic cause it to become dry or brittle? I live in a dry climate and wonder what the intense heat of the attic will do to paper products. Do you have suggestions for how to store?

    1. We store our extra TP and other paper goods in the attic, and we have not noticed any problems. We simply leave it in the original packaging. So far, so good.

  10. Do you have a mail out catalog that we can look at and order food and survival items
    Thank you
    Janetta

    1. @Janetta, We do not directly sell products here, although we do have advertisers that do. Look to the right of this post starting at the top of the page and you will find a variety of suppliers to choose from.

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